Author Nicholas Boggs and John McWhorter discuss "Baldwin: A Love Story" as a lesson in loving

On any given night, New York reliably offers an embarrassment of riches in terms of things to do, as entertaining as they are illuminating. This was certainly true catching Nicholas Boggs discussing his new James Baldwin biography "Baldwin: A Love Story," with New York Times columnist John McWhorter, associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University, and author of "Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.

- By MICHAEL HENRY ADAMS Special to the AmNews

Discussing his new biography of James Baldwin, John McWhorter engaged Nathaniel Boggs with skilled repartee. In appearance, even with his long hair tied back, Nathaniel Boggs best resembles Albrecht Duer's last, Jesus-like, self-portrait of 1500. Ms. Lana Turner, Harlem's foremost bibliophile and swing dancer, and David Levering Lewis who wrote "When Harlem was in Vogue." Joel Desouve described himself as "someone who admires James Baldwin's writing!" (Michael Henry Adams photos)

(Michael Henry Adams photos)

A collaborative public program hosted by the Leon Levy Center for Biography, it was held at the imposing CUNY Graduate Center on Fifth Avenue (the former landmarked B. Altman Store). An at-capacity crowd seemed to hang onto every word, and rightly so, as we were hearing from two excellent storytellers, who are two of the most distinguished scholars in their fields.

One false note seemed to be when Dr. McWhorter asked if Boggs, through a decade of painstaking research and writing, had come to “love Baldwin?” He wondered, “Because with some of the finest biographies I’ve ever read, after a while it’s clear that the author detests his subject.”

For me, it’s always seemed that the opposite is true, and especially in this case. An affinity with the subject always seems to enhance a writer's understanding in a way that the best manage to convey to the reader.